Bihar Assembly election: Nitish Kumar seeks re-election to sixth term as chief minister (File)
Bombay:
Nitish Kumar must thank the Shiv Sena if he retains the post of chief minister of Bihar despite his JDU winning fewer seats than the BJP, Sanjay Raut said on Tuesday evening in a blow to his party’s former ally. Mr Raut said Mr Kumar should pay attention to what happened in Maharashtra in October last year and said his party has shown what happens when alliance partners fail. not their promise.
He was referring to the dramatic events following last year’s Assembly elections in Maharashtra, when the BJP and Shiv Sena quarreled (dramatically) over power-sharing disagreements. The two contested the polls together and won, but the Sena later alleged the BJP was refusing to honor its pre-election promise to rotate the post of chief minister.
“I heard BJP leaders say that only Nitish babu will be the chief minister. Nitish babu should thank Shiv Sena for that. Failure to keep promises will not happen in Bihar because the Shiv Sena has shown what can happen if the word is not kept, ”said Mr. Raut.
“Therefore, if Nitish Kumar becomes Chief Minister of Bihar, although he won fewer seats (compared to the BJP), he should thank the Shiv Sena,” he added.
Trends at 7:30 p.m. showed BJP-led NDA slightly ahead of opposition mahagathbandan, which is headed by Tejashwi Yadav and the RJD. The NDA leads with 120 seats, while the opposition alliance leads with 115. The Assembly majority of 243 members is 122.
Nitish Kumar’s JDU is in trouble, however. Faced with a strong anti-outgoing wave, the party of the chief minister is in the lead with only 39 seats. The BJP, on the other hand, is ahead in 73 and should, for the first time, be the big brother of its alliance with the JDU.
Mr Raut’s slippage was referring to the BJP repeatedly emphasizing that Nitish Kumar will remain chief minister if their alliance wins the election.
Some reports indicate that this promise will be kept and that Mr. Kumar will remain chief minister regardless of the performance of his party or the BJP. Others, however, say some BJP leaders feel Mr. Kumar is unable to deliver the punches, especially given the poor performance of the JDU.
The JDU, however, made it clear – the BJP had given its word. The party also stressed that without it, the BJP could not hope to obtain a majority in Bihar.
Mr Raut also praised opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav, who is the mahagathbandanchief ministerial candidate and has, in the absence of notable congressional help, been active in the campaign.
Mr. Yadav displayed a “fighting spirit” despite his contesting the election in a “hostile” situation, Sanjay Raut said, adding that the polls had named him “the man of the match”.
“The young leader fought alone against the Prime Minister, the Prime Minister and the Union ministers in such a hostile situation and turned the campaign around him. The country and Bihar have such a face in politics that we can count on, ”he said.
The exit polls won the opposition alliance in Bihar’s elections, but exit polls are often wrong. Nonetheless, polls also showed that Mr. Yadav was the preferred top cabinet candidate for the people of Bihar.
With the contribution of PTI
